English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
A unified strike by members of three unions at Saint-Gobain glass plants in Belgium ended Friday, 10 July. But not before Auvelais workers at the French multinational made a defining stand in this industrial action: no company will be allowed to use the financial crisis as a pretext to implement common restructuring! 
 
Workers returned to their jobs 11 July, after voting 58 to 48% to end the nine-day strike, a strike that saw two plants totally blockaded for most of that time. A mediated agreement was put forward on 8 July. The dispute started in February 2009, when Saint-Gobain proposed 241 job cuts. Over the ensuing months, Saint-Gobain resisted all practical alternatives put forward by social partners. 
 
Some 880 are employed at the twin plants of Saint-Gobain Sekurit and Saint-Gobain Knell near Charleroi, in southern Belgium. 
When the strike started &ndash; 2 July, after months of fruitless bargaining &ndash; the company still wanted 215 job cuts. The unions, including ICEM affiliates Centrale G&eacute;n&eacute;rale-FGTB/ABVV and the CSC/ACV, proposed constructive options to the job cuts. But these proposals were ignored. Saint-Gobain as well sought cuts to worker entitlements, such as pre-pension benefits, transfer compensation, and severance on voluntary departures. 

<img alt="" src="" width="332" height="162" />
&ldquo;The absence of meaningful dialogue is an insult to what is now demanded,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;We know that Saint-Gobain is guilty of social dumping and we also know that this conduct is not related to the financial crisis.&rdquo; 
 
Trade union strikers blocked access to all company assets at Saint-Gobain Knell throughout the strike, and at Sekurit, a blockade was lifted partially in the sixth day of the strike. Other restructurings have occurred in these Wallonian plants. In May 2008, 100 jobs were cut. The Sekurit plant makes flat glass, while the Knell operation makes glass in building and construction products. 
 
The ICEM extended support to the strikers during the labour action. &ldquo;The ICEM questions Saint-Gobain and its motives in using the world&rsquo;s economic crisis to gain financial strength in the restructuring of the Belgian factories,&rdquo; the Global Union Federation wrote Belgian union members. &ldquo;The ICEM and its family of trade unions worldwide stand with you in Auvelais as you take justified industrial actions.&rdquo; 
 
Saint-Gobain has faced fierce resistance to job cuts in other parts of Europe, as well. Strikes in Italy and France occurred in April and May, and European trade union federations manifested at Saint-Gobain offices in Paris on 20 May. 
 
Currently, CGT in France has called for urgent talks with the company at Mers-les-Bains over 100 proposed job cuts, and social partners at Saint-Gobain Desjonqu&egrave;res in Real Sitio, Spain, began deep discussions over a proposed six-week shutdown in August and September, affecting 180 workers. 
 
In Germany, IGBCE, EWC, and Saint-Gobain completed social talks related to transfer and re-skilling at Saint-Gobain Vetrotex operations.

Financial Stress Brings Industrial Unrest to Belgian Glass Sector

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
In a month&rsquo;s time, global trade unions will begin actions around the World Day for Decent Work, 7 October. And similarly to last year, the 20-million-member ICEM will focus activities on its Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) campaign, with specific emphasis this year on events in Thailand and Turkey. 
 
In Thailand, the ICEM&rsquo;s Thai Affiliates&rsquo; Committee has already begun joint preparations with Thai Electronics, Automotive, and Metalworking (TEAM) affiliates and trade unions affiliated to the Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITGLWF) to bring unionization to CAL workers. The emphasis as well will be on stopping victimization and interference in union activities by both the Thai government and multinational employers. 

World Day for Decent Work in Thailand will also focus on the necessity for the government to ratify ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the freedom of association and right to organise and right to collective bargaining conventions. In addition, the ICEM Thai Affiliates&rsquo; Committee will work with the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers&rsquo; Association (IUF) on injustices committed by Unilever.
<img alt="" src="" width="230" height="106" />
 
Thai activities are likely to include a national trade union seminar, a march, media outreach, and literature and posters made available inside worksites. A further planning meeting on Thai actions around 7 October will occur this week. 
 
In Turkey, the Work Relations Group of the Council of Global Unions, together with Turkish trade union federations, will conduct activities throughout the early days of October against a backdrop of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Those meetings are to be held on 6-7 October in Istanbul. 
 
On 1 October, the ICEM will lead Turkish affiliated unions and others into a meeting in Ankara with the country&rsquo;s Minister of Labour and Social Security. The purpose of that will be to press the Turkish government for full work rights for temporary and precarious workers. On 2 October, in Istanbul, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary Guy Ryder, and other global labour leaders will hold a press conference related to World Day for Decent Work.
<img alt="" src="" width="240" height="110" />
Four Turkish trade union federations &ndash; T&Uuml;RK-İŞ, DİSK, KESK, and HAK-İŞ &ndash; have been asked to produce examples of abuse to precarious workers. T&Uuml;RK-İŞ is organizing a series of symposiums across the country on the issues of unemployment insurance and hired labour. One such forum is scheduled at Gazi University in Ankara on 7 October. 
 
In July, the ICEM teamed with affiliated Turkish unions and the federations to block a &ldquo;Private Labour Offices&rdquo; bill, proposed legislation that would have made it easy for individuals to register as labour brokers and then to dispatch temporary workers to enterprises. 
 
The draconian legislation was vetoed on 9 July by President Abdullah G&uuml;l. Although the immediate political climate is not suitable for the bill&rsquo;s return, it is far from dead and ICEM and trade unions hope to use 7 October activities to bury the measure for good. An ICEM report on the legislation can be found <a href="-Labour-Hire-Veto-Applauded-More-Work-Demanded">here</a>.&nbsp;

ICEM’s World Day for Decent Work Focus on Thailand, Turkey

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The ICEM was informed last week of Albanian President Sali Berisha&rsquo;s announcement to the national media, that the government will pass a bill in parliament to sequester all properties of Albanian trade unions. 
 
The announcement was made on 19 August, with the promise to push the Bill through within three months. 

<img src="" width="250" height="115" alt="" />
Trade unions in Albania have suffered continued discrimination from the national government in recent years. On 1 August 2007, both of the country&rsquo;s Trade Union Confederations, the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania (BSPSH) and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Albania (KSSH), were expelled from their headquarters and prohibited from exercising their normal activity. All property and documents inside the offices were destroyed by police. 
 
The threat of expropriation and police occupation of trade union premises has been continuous for many years. Since July 2006, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) has called on the prime minister to start a dialogue with the Albanian trade union movement, in order to find a solution safeguarding the continuity of the social dialogue in Albania. 
 
The ICEM condemns this attack on the democratic trade unions of Albania. There will be a joint ILO-International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) delegation to Albania starting today, 24 August.

Expropriation of Albanian Trade Unions’ Property Condemned

<img src="" width="100" height="39" alt="" />
The Solvay workers of Brazil met for the fourth time under the auspices of the Solvay Network. The conference met 11-13 August, in Salvador de Bahia, on the northeast coast of Brazil. A new website was launched by the conference, as well as a new Action Plan for 2009-2010. See the new website <a href="http://redesolvaybrasil.ning.com">here</a>. 
 
The new website is designed to assist communication and coordination, and also participation of workers at the 14 Brazilian locations of the Belgian-based company. 
 
The new Action Plan lays out the Network&rsquo;s intentions to consolidate a new database of the different conditions and working relationships currently affecting members, a study into the inclusion of workers in the profits made by the company, and analysis of the commitment made by Solvay to the Charter on Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. 

<img src="" width="306" height="176" alt="" />
That was signed in November 2008 between the company and the European Works Council (EWC). 
 
The meeting included visits to Solvay plants at Sim&otilde;es Filho, and brought together workers and trade unionists from organisations such as the Sindicato dos Quimicos do ABC, and Confederac&atilde;o Nacional dos Ramos Quimicos (CNQ/CUT), as well as from CUTMulti Project, Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Ind&uacute;stria Qu&iacute;mica, Petroqu&iacute;mica, the Chemicals and Plastics Union of S&atilde;o Paulo, the BASF Cama&ccedil;ari, and the Petrochemical and Allied Workers of Bahia Blanca (Argentina). 

<img src="" width="170" height="214" alt="" />
Network Coordinator, Juvenil Nunes da Costa
ICEM Vice-President for the Latin America/Caribbean Region, Sergio Novais, informed the Network that there will be a meeting next month with company management in Brussels, and called for meetings of the Network on training and exchange of experiences, in the month of November, in S&atilde;o Paulo. 
 
There is a strong prospect of a new process of social dialogue with the company. One priority of the Network is to make the Solvay management formally recognise the Solvay Network. 
 
The coordinator of the Network, Juvenil Nunes da Costa, described the meeting as a great success.

Solvay Workers’ Network Meets for Fourth Time in Brazil

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
Slovakia declared 11-12 August a period of national mourning, after 20 miners died in an underground explosion in the town of Handlova, central Slovakia. It was the worst mining disaster in the country&rsquo;s history. 
 
All state institutions flew the nation&rsquo;s flag at half mast, starting at 08h00 on 11 August until 08h00 12 August following the 10 August mine blast at the Hornonitrianske Banke Mining Company&rsquo;s lignite coal mine. A public memorial for the departed miners was held on 20 August in Handlova. 
 
Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza is Slovakia's top brown coal producer, supplying fuel to the nearby Novaky heating plant. 

<img alt="" src="" width="185" height="188" />
Recovery teams continued last week to search for the bodies of the fallen mineworkers, however finding survivors was impossible not a possibility. The mine&rsquo;s Director, Peter Cicmanec, stated that heat caused by the blast, and the high concentration of poisonous gases, put it beyond doubt that any of the missing miners would still be alive. 
 
Cicmanec has been criticised inside Slovakia for not making public condolences on the mine tragedy until the memorial service last week. 
 
The disaster was caused by a methane gas explosion, 330 metres underground, at around 09h30 on 10 August. Several of the deceased were fire fighters, who were in the shaft to put out small fires of self-igniting coal. The gases had been left in the shaft by previous &ldquo;imperfect combustion.&rdquo; 
 
Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek stated that nine workers were recovered from the mine and treated in a local hospital on Monday. 
 
Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has promised financial aid to the families of the victims in the amount of &euro;33,000. He has also ordered an independent investigation into the cause of the accident. 
 
The mine produces 2.2 million tonnes of lignite per year and Hornonitrianske Banke Prievidza has plans to open new mines in the region after the discovery of deposits of some 7.2 million tonnes. 
 
A total of 445 people have lost their lives in the mines surrounding Handlova since 1915. But over the past 17 years, only 12 have died.

Slovakia Holds National Days of Mourning Following Mine Tragedy

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Seventy-seven Russian electric utility workers are dead following a massive explosion at a hydroelectric plant 17 August in the Khakassia Region of south Siberia. Workers at the site, Sayano-Shushenskaya, owned by the 60% state-run company RusHydro, are organised by ICEM affiliate Electroprofsoyuz. 
 
Russia&rsquo;s Emergency Situations Ministry warned in 1998 that the country&rsquo;s largest hydroelectric plant was desperately in need of major repairs, but little work had been done. The explosion occurred in the turbine hall of the dam, reportedly when a faulty turbine combined with a rise in pressure inside pipes caused the horrific explosion. 
 
On Saturday, 22 August, rescuers recovered 19 more bodies, bringing the death count to 66. Another 11 workers are thought to have perished, perhaps swept down the Yenisei River. 

<img height="110" alt="" src="" width="250" />
A day earlier, on 21 August, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the scene and announced families of the dead will each receive one million rubles (US$31,450) in compensation from RusHydro. Putin said the Russian government will match that amount. 
 
Workers were killed by drowning and crushed by crumbling debris. Some 40 tonnes of transformer oil spilled into the Yenisei. Five of ten turbines were destroyed as the explosion blew out walls and flooded the turbine hall. It is expected that reconstruction will take up to four years, at a cost of US$1.2 billion. 
 
The accident is expected to hike energy prices in the region by as much as 30%. The facility generates one-fourth of RusHydro&rsquo;s total power output and the plant supplies power to two aluminium smelters of RusAl. The company&rsquo;s director of corporate strategy said that 500,000 tons of annual aluminium production capacity is under threat, bringing expected production this year down from 4.4 million tonnes to 3.9 million. 
 
Last Wednesday, 19 August, was designated as an official day of mourning in the Khakassia region, some 3,000 km east of Moscow.

Blast at Russian Electric-Power Dam Kills 77

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Eight years after the murders of two trade unionist leaders, Valmore Locarno Rodriguez and Victor Hugo Orcasita Amaya, the Colombian judiciary has handed down the first convictions for their killers. 
 
The two leaders of Sintramienergica worked for the American mining multinational, Drummond. Jairo Charris Jesus, a member of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for his role in the murders. 
 
Locarno and Orcasita, president and vice president of Sintramienergetica, were killed on 12 March 2001, when they left the mine at the end of a working day. The bus in which they were travelling was intercepted by an armed group of the Northern Bloc of the AUC, in the village of Casa de Zinc, in El Paso province. 

<img height="195" alt="" src="" width="150" />
Victor&nbsp;Orcasita
Locarno was murdered there, while Orcasita was taken by the paramilitaries in a van, and found dead in a rural area the following day. Locarno&rsquo;s replacement in the union&rsquo;s leadership was Gustavo Soler Mora, who was murdered seven months after replacing Locarno. 
 
Charris was employed as &ldquo;security coordinator&rdquo; at the time of the killings for the contracting firm Industrial Food Services (ISA), a company that provided food to the mining camps of Drummond in Cesar department. Charris was found by the court to have given the order for the union leaders to be killed. 
 
Jairo de Jesus Charris sent written correspondence to the court, during his case, explaining that the murders had been planned with Colombian and American company executives. 

<img height="181" alt="" src="" width="205" />
Orcasita right, with other Sintramienergetica miners
Earlier this year Tolemaida Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, the Commander of the Bloque Norte, was extradited to the US for his part in the killings. 
 
Drummond has denied all links to paramilitary organisations, and all allegations of complicity in the killings. On 26 July 2007, a US federal district court in Alabama acquitted Drummond of any responsibility in a case brought under the US&rsquo;s Alien Tort Claims Act. A US appellate court later upheld the acquittal, despite the fact that witnesses from Colombia were not allowed to testify in the US federal court case. 
 
However, in May 2009, an attorney for Colombian plaintiffs &ndash; the families of Locarno and Orcasita &ndash; filed another US lawsuit against Drummond, accusing the company of paying paramilitaries to murder union and community leaders, as well as paying paramilitaries to protect the transport of coal by rail from Drummond&rsquo;s minds to the port of Cesar Ci&eacute;naga.

Murderer Convicted of Killing Colombian Drummond Trade Unionists

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM affiliate Petrol-Is, Turkey&rsquo;s Oil, Chemical and Rubber Workers Union, has started an organising campaign using unconventional methods. The campaign has received special commendation from ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. Choosing to target the city of Duzce, near Istanbul, the city was covered in campaign materials, with every billboard showing posters from the union. Banners, brochures, flyers, stickers, TV and radio adverts, newspaper ads, t-shirts, and a campaign website, were all produced, so that the campaign would be impossible to miss. Progressive cinema celebrities also produced films connected to the campaign. 

<img alt="" src="" width="349" height="212" />
The special website and blog for the campaign can be found <a href="http://www.sendikaliol.org">here</a>. The project&rsquo;s slogan &ldquo;Sendikalı Ol&rdquo; or &ldquo;Be unionised&rdquo; is accompanied by &ldquo;Umutlu Ol&rdquo; (Be hopeful), &ldquo;G&uuml;&ccedil;l&uuml; Ol&rdquo; (Be Strong), &ldquo;G&uuml;venli Ol&rdquo; (Be Secure), &ldquo;Mutlu Ol&rdquo; (Be Happy), &ldquo;Birlik Ol&rdquo; (Be United) and &ldquo;Etkili Ol&rdquo; (Be Effective). The blog has specific sections designed for potential new members, &ldquo;What is the Union?&rdquo;, &ldquo;Why Unionise?&rdquo;, &ldquo;What is Petrol-Is?&rdquo; 
 
The impressive project is the result of long-term research and planning by the union. Following a dramatic decline in membership in early 1990s, organizing became an urgent priority on the Petrol-Is agenda. This extremely visible campaigning technique was chosen, to break the pattern of previous trade union recruitment campaigns. Many companies in Turkey do not recognise workers&rsquo; right to organise as a legitimate right. Previous union organising campaigns had come up against repressive union-busting measures from the employers, such as threats dismissals, blacklists, redundancies. Unions had therefore been forced to be conduct campaigns in secrecy. 

<img alt="" src="" width="167" height="172" />
Petrol-Is President Mustafa &Ouml;ztaşkın
The Duzce campaign was a chance to break a mindset that identifies &ldquo;union organizing&rdquo; with &ldquo;anarchy&rdquo;. The union&rsquo;s message was conveyed, not only to unorganized workers at their worksites, but also to their families and local communities. The campaign created an atmosphere full of energy, hope and self-confidence, especially for young workers. 
 
Next steps for the campaign will be a comprehensive recruitment drive in the coming months, similar publicity campaigns in other Turkish cities and at the national level.

Turkey’s Petrol-Is Launch Creative Organising Campaign

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
The United Steelworkers (USW) is on strike in Canada against global mining giant Vale, as reported in <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3315-Miners-of-USW-Strike-Vale’s-Nickel-Riches-in-Canada">InBrief 135</a>. The ICEM is coordinating global union solidarity among its affiliates for these striking miners and is asking its mining affiliates around the world to demonstrate solidarity. A letter was sent this morning from ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, urging &ldquo;We have an historic opportunity in an expanding campaign to confront a global corporation with global trade union power&rdquo;. 
 
More than 3,000 Steelworkers in Greater Sudbury and Port Colborne took industrial action on 13 July; strikers are now digging in as the strike enters its third week. 
<img alt="" src="" width="358" height="142" />
The local/branch of the USW has established a website in which the major issues in the strike can be viewed -- <a href="http://www.fairdealnow.ca">http://www.fairdealnow.ca</a>. 
Vale is the second largest mining company in the world. In the last five years, Vale has made enormous profits, with $13.2 billion (USD) net profit in 2008 alone. According to the company&rsquo;s own figures, each Vale employee produced $221,223 of 2008 net profits. Unfortunately, Vale has shared little of that profit with its miners. In contrast, it has paid six top executives $33 million in compensation in 2008 alone and had their pay increased more than 120% from 2006 to 2008. 

<img alt="" src="" width="174" height="175" />
Local 6500 President John Fera
ICEM affiliates in Africa are supporting the USW struggle, and in doing so, are increasing the pressure on Vale leadership to halt their mistreatment of their mineworkers in Canada. This is because Vale plans large expansion in the African continent and their reputation there will necessary for this. Creating a two-tiered pension plan, slashing the nickel bonus and seriously damaging seniority rights, is not acceptable behaviour from the Vale management. 
 
CUT Brazil and the United Steelworkers signed what they call a &quot;strategic partnership&quot;, last week, to support workers in their negotiations with the Brazilian multinational Vale, in both Canada and Brazil. &quot;The Brazilian workers organized in the Vale Union Network, part of nearly 150,000 Vale employees in 35 countries on five continents, are extremely concerned about the fate of the negotiations in Canada, since the outcome could have an immediate impact in the renewal of the collective agreement in Brazil,&quot; the CUT statement said. 
 
As Vale Inco spokesman Cory McPhee blamed the current economic downturn for the extensive concessions for workers, including heavy cuts to pensions, and to production bonuses, Local 6500 vice-president Rick Bertrand pointed out that Vale Inco has made $4.2 billion in Sudbury since it purchased Inco, late 2006. The ICEM campaign will continue protesting against mining companies, who attempt to take unfair advantage of the current economic crisis. Workers should not pay for the crisis they did not create.

ICEM Affiliates Demonstrate Solidarity for USW Striking Miners in Canada

<img alt="" src="" width="100" height="39" />
ICEM mining affiliate Sintracarb&oacute;n in Colombia is calling for international solidarity for the outsourced workers of transport contractor SOTRANS. Those workers are being subjected to a fierce campaign, in response to their attempts to exercise their right to organise and bargain collectively. The new trade union SINTRANS, faces a difficult challenge, as all SOTRANS workers are contracted on a fixed term, six-month basis. Colombia has ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98. 
 
The fact that all SOTRANS workers are limited to six month contracts, enabled the contractor to end the employment of union leaders Vicente Pomarico and Jorge Diaz, ignoring their protections as founders and leaders of the workers&rsquo; organisation and members of the bargaining committee. The company have since continued their strategy of persecution and harassment of the union, making 33 more workers, involved in the union, unemployed. Eighty per cent of the SOTRANS workers are still reported to be organised. The management of Cerrej&oacute;n and the Ministry of Social Protection have voiced no objection at all to this blatant violation to the right to organise. 

<img alt="" src="" width="220" height="185" />
SINTRANS is the first union of subcontractors at Cerrej&oacute;n. Sintracarb&oacute;n, with full ICEM support, seeks to set a precedent of SINTRANS at the site, an example for workers at other subcontracting firms there. There are around 300 contractor companies at the site in La Guajira, conducting much of the operation&rsquo;s work. The union continues to organise meetings and demonstrations at the world&rsquo;s richest coal reserve. There is no sign of the union backing down. 
 
As reported in <a href="/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/3290-Sintracarbón-Seeks-Unionisation-for-Subcontractor-at-Cerrejón-in-Colombia">InBrief</a>, SINTRANS are pushing for two priorities, firstly full-time permanent employment contracts, and secondly wages and social benefits that are, at least, in line with the national minimum standards. They are currently paid US$250 a month. Subcontractors at Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, the world&rsquo;s largest open-pit coal mines, are often described as working in &ldquo;slave labour&rdquo; conditions. It is the responsibility of Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n management to block SOTRANS&rsquo; campaign of harassment and union-busting at their site. 

<img alt="" src="" width="140" height="173" />
Carlos Gaviria
Colombian politician Carlos Gaviria D&iacute;az, president of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), has stepped in on the side of subcontractors, &ldquo;the realization of these rights is an indicator of the vitality of a democracy and the rule of law&quot;. Gaviria does not accept the claims from Carbones del Cerrej&oacute;n, that these rights violations are not their responsibility due to the &ldquo;independence&rdquo; of contractor firms. &quot;Outsourcing can not be a dodge to evade responsibilities and violate workers' rights,&quot; he added. 
 
Senator Jorge Robledo has also weighed in supporting the victimised SINTRANS workers, demanding the immediate reinstatement of the 33 union members sacked by the contractor. Robledo has also denounced the complicity of the Cerrej&oacute;n management. 
 
In unrelated news in Colombia, new ICEM affiliate Union Sindical Obrera (USO) are facing intimidation during their collective negotiations with petroleum company Ecopetrol. Thursday 17 July saw riot police attack workers at the Barrancabermeja refinery with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun bombs. Workers flocked to listen to union leaders at the refinery front door, but were attacked by the security forces, leaving 3 injured workers and arresting 2 more. The attack occurred two days after the start of the negotiations; USO suspended the meeting to focus on treating the injured and securing the release of detainees. 

<img alt="" src="" width="130" height="140" />
USO President Germ&aacute;n Osman condemned the attack. Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia.

Temporary Workers in Colombia Attacked for Attempting to Organise

Archive